PITTSBURGH -- African-American women under the age of 40 get breast cancer at twice the rate of white women in the same age group.

One local researcher is investigating to see if there may be a link between those cancers and hair care products used by African-American women.

Dr. Devra Davis is a nationally known expert and author on environmental health issues.

She now heads up the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Oncology Center, which is devoted to studying possible connections between the environment and cancer.

One of Davis' first projects is to try and find out why young black women get breast cancer twice as often as young white women.

Davis said since breast cancer has many different causes, it is often difficult to say in a single individual what the cause of her breast cancer is.

As for the Food and Drug Administration, it said it does not require testing on cosmetics before they go on the market.

The label must only say "the safety of the product has not been determined."

More Details:
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Devra Lee Davis